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Port of Rotterdam focuses on sustainable energy generation

Logistics Company Samskip’s ended the installation of the largest solar panel system in the Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands) as part of the policies created to improve environmental conditions and sustainable energy generation.

According to a press release, the initiative was undertaken between port authorities and the Dutch renewable energy company Zon Exploitatie Nederland (ZEN).

The panel system was installed on the roof of FrigoCare’s freezer warehouse with capacity for 14,000 pallets. In total, 3,100 panels were installed to cover a 7,500-mts² area, capable of generating 750,000 kWh of electricity a year.

This amount of energy is enough to provide the average annual energy that 250 families need and significantly reduce the carbon emissions of the largest port in Europe.

The solar panel cost was of around one million euros and it will allow FrigoCare to access greener, cheaper energy.

Jan Bouman, managing director of FrigoCare, said: “The partnership with ZEN has enabled us to reduce our annual carbon emissions by around 325 tonnes a year. It is an example which we hope others in the logistics and transport industry will follow.”

The solar energy generated today in Rotterdam is the three GWh according to local data, and with the new solar panel, this figure will increase 25%. The goal is to reach 20 GWh by 2018 and 100 GWh by 2030.

In Rotterdam also exists other ways of producing sustainable energy such as wind energy and co-firing biomass. For 2020, Rotterdam expects to produce up to 300 Mw of wind energy. Currently, wind turbine capacity in the port area generates 200 megawatts (MW).

According to the Port of Rotterdam website, the biomass co-fired in coal-fired power stations usually consists of imported wood chips, but residual materials, for example from the biobased chemical industry, can also play a part.